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Elle
18-07-2025
- Business
- Elle
Is Olivia Smith's Record Breaking Transfer To Arsenal The Start Of A New Era For Women's Football?
When news of Olivia Smith's record-breaking £1 million transfer made headlines last week – making the 20-year-old the most expensive player in the history of women's football – it didn't just mark a win for the Gunners. It signalled a clear gear shift in the sport, one that has been building steadily since the Lionesses' historic EURO 2022 triumph. With Smith's move from Liverpool to Arsenal complete on July 18, and England's penalty win against Sweden last night in this year's tournament, women's football has the world sitting up and paying attention again. But for those who've long watched the game be overlooked and understated, the question lingers: is this another one-off moment, or the beginning of something much bigger for the sport? According to football finance expert Kieran Maguire, the transfer is less of a 'market correction' and more of a natural progression. 'The £1m fee reflects the increased success of the game and the importance of competing in, and success of European Football,' he says. Looking back at recent transfer activity, this is particularly true. Before Smith's move, some of the highest transfer fees in women's football occurred between 2024 and 2025. Players like Tarciane (£650,000 from Houston Dash to Lyon), Racheal Kundananji (£685,000 from Madrid CFF to Bay FC) and Naomi Girma (£883,000 from San Diego Wave to Chelsea) have all proved that clubs are paying big, and show no sign of slowing down. It's what many, including Maguire, believe is a statement of confidence in women's football, as well as financial growth in the sport - and top teams like Arsenal tell a similar story. 'The team's revenue has increased from £340,000 in 2018 to over £15.2 million in 2024,' and major leaps like this are occurring across the Women's Super League (WSL). While the WSL may still have a long way to go, it's already stamping its mark in the game. 'Not only is it the highest sum paid in the women's game, but it's greater than probably 40 or more teams in the men's game too,' says McGuire. A benefit to the players too, competitive fees provide the players with more autonomy. As they secure longer contracts, this directly contributes to higher transfer fees. 'It's mirroring trends in the men's game,' says Dr. Christina Philippu, a women's football finance expert. This shows just how much the women's game is aligning with the broader football market. A critical shift, which has seen surges in new levels of investment, not just from clubs, but from commercial sponsors, broadcasters, and investors who see a bigger, more profitable future ahead. Take Brazilian American international Catarina Macario, for example. Earlier this month her landmark Nike deal was further proof that women's football is reaching new heights. The football star signed a 10-year, £10 million deal with the sportswear giant. Putting it into perspective, most top-tier female footballers earn around £60,000 to £70,000 a year in sponsorships, while a few elite players make upwards of £800,000, as reported by Forbes. Macario's deal isn't just big for women's football on the pitch, it shows that there's money off it, too. 'Commercial is the largest chunk of club income, mainly as a result of new partners coming into the women's football space that had not previously been interested in football: sports bras and period pants and makeup brands. This has pushed up how much is available to spend on players,' says Philippou. On the ground, football fans are playing their part in the uptick too. Visa's recent figures show that interest in women's football is going from strength to strength. Across Europe and the UK, the tournament has attracted a 12% year-on-year increase in travellers to Switzerland. As the revenue and commercial opportunities grow, the sport's global reach is expanding faster than anyone could have imagined a decade ago. Now, between waiting to see if competing teams will follow suit and watching the Lionesses' hopeful journey to becoming two-time EURO champions, one thing that is certain is women's football is entering what feels like the second phase of a transformative era, and that is largely thanks to elite players like Smith. ELLE Collective is a new community of fashion, beauty and culture lovers. For access to exclusive content, events, inspiring advice from our Editors and industry experts, as well the opportunity to meet designers, thought-leaders and stylists, become a member today HERE.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
How Milford MA became a flashpoint for Trump's immigration crackdown
MILFORD — Immigrants in town say they're living in constant fear of ICE raids that have rounded up 1,500 undocumented people throughout Massachusetts. Among those arrested was Marcelo Gomes da Silva, a Milford High School student, whose story has drawn widespread attention for how it throws into stark relief immigration-enforcement tensions that exist all over the country. "There have been very high levels of anxiety in the community about immigration enforcement for many months," said Milford High School Principal Joshua Otlin. Da Silva's family, who brought him to the United States from Brazil at age 7, are just some of the thousands of immigrants from Latin America whose arrival have reshaped Milford in the last two decades. And now their community is in the crosshairs of President Donald Trump's aggressive deportation efforts. 'Best possible outcome': Milford high school student granted bail by immigration court The fear is pervasive throughout the community, said Reggie Lima, a Brazilian American who on a recent day wore a Trump hat in Milford's Padaria Brasil Bakery. "Every day, it's on the back of everybody's mind. Nobody leaves home today without checking around, checking the windows, to see if ICE is outside," Lima said. Da Silva, 18, was arrested by ICE agents on May 31 when he was stopped on his way to volleyball practice. Federal officials said they targeted his father, Joao Paulo Gomes-Pereira, who they say is undocumented and has a history of reckless driving. The next day, da Silva's girlfriend and other Milford High School seniors graduated under a cloud of angst. Not only was da Silva — the drummer in the school band performing that day — absent but so were two of the graduating students and the families of many others. "A lot of people's parents were very scared to go to graduation, because there were a lot of false rumors saying that immigration could be around school property," said an 18-year-old Brazilian American who just graduated. USA TODAY is withholding the names of high school students interviewed for this story, because many community members expressed fear that they or their family would be subject to arrest or deportation. 'Stay together': Milford supporters of detained teen rally outside immigration court "It was a very difficult day, but it's definitely going to be memorable, because right after graduation, the first thing that all my friends did, we walked with our teachers, our friends, in our in caps and gowns — I was in my heels — all the way down to town hall protesting for Marcelo," she added. "I heard many stories of people who didn't cheer for their children," for fear of being exposed to immigration authorities, said Colleen Greco, the mother of one of da Silva's volleyball teammates. Da Silva was released on June 5 after posting a $2,000 bond set by an immigration judge that afternoon. His arrest drew immediate backlash and condemnation from members of Congress. If Milford isn't Any Town USA, it is at least Any Town New England. The Brutalist concrete high school is surrounded by athletic fields and a sea of parking. Strip malls are filled with chain restaurants, including three Dunkin' Donuts. The historic downtown is centered around a wood-frame town hall with a cupola-crowned clock tower. Its environs are filled with wood siding-clad houses behind small lawns, some protected by white-picket fences. While the mainline Protestant churches — Episcopal, Methodist, Congregationalist and Unitarian — reflect the British roots of the town's original settlers, a nearby Catholic church demonstrates its more recent immigrant history: Once catering to the Irish and Italians who dominated the population in the 20th century, it now offers services in Spanish and Portuguese, as well as English. 'Nobody deserves to be there': Milford teen describes his six days in ICE facility "When I grew up in Milford, Milford was pretty indistinguishable from other suburbs in this part of Massachusetts," said Otlin, who graduated in 1996 from the high school where he's now principal. Back then, he said, it was "almost exclusively white." "Today Milford is very, very different than it was," he continued. "Most of our students identify as something other than white, native-born, English-speaking Americans. Here at the high school, 45% of our families need a translator to communicate with the school." According to the U.S. Census, 30% of Milford's 30,000 residents are foreign-born. The Census undercounts immigrants, who may be afraid to respond to the survey, according to experts and the Census Bureau itself. A 2023 Census Bureau report found 19.8% of noncitizens located in administrative records could not be matched to an address in the 2020 Census, compared to 5.4% of among citizens. Still, Census data show a massive surge in immigration: Since 2000, both the Hispanic population and the foreign-born population have tripled in Milford. The name "Massachusetts" might evoke liberal coastal elites, such as those ones at Harvard that Trump is currently attacking with every weapon he can find. But Milford is 30 miles and a world away from the Ivy League campus. Just one-third of adults in Milford hold a bachelor's degree, compared to 80% in Cambridge. And while it's easier to find a Yankees fan than a Republican in Harvard Yard, 42% of Milford voters went for Trump last year. 'Not all is well': Milford High graduation marred by news of student's ICE detention "Massachusetts has the 6th highest foreign-born proportion in the country at 18%," wrote Mark Melnik, a researcher at the UMass Donahue Institute, part of the University of Massachusetts, in an email to USA TODAY. "Milford at 30% is higher than Boston (27%)!" In the late 19th century, the local economy revolved around extracting the town's trademark pink granite, which is found in buildings as far away as Paris. In the mid-20th century, Archer Rubber was a major employer. Now, it's the health care and biotechnology industry throughout Greater Boston. But even a white-collar economy needs manual laborers to build and maintain houses and office parks. "For most of our immigrant families, they're working in the skilled trades, mostly in the construction trades," Otlin said. Downtown, many stores feature signage in Spanish and Portuguese and sell products from Latin America such as soccer jerseys and plantain leaves. Many longtime residents enthusiastically embrace the new diversity. "They have the best meat markets," Greco said. Others express their region's trademark tolerance. "I think he's a folk hero, and I'm behind him," said Tom, a middle-aged white neighbor who was passing da Silva's house on June 6. Da Silva's friends streamed in and out, but no one answered the door for a reporter. "I think it's no different than when Irish moved in, in the late 1800s, and Italians moved in in the early 1900s," Tom, a lifelong Milford resident of Irish ancestry who declined to give his last name, added. "Only the laws have changed, but we're all human." Even before da Silva was picked up, the already-pervasive fear of immigration authorities led one of Marcelo's volleyball teammates to be in his car that day. "The night before, I had asked Marcelo for a ride to practice because, ironically enough, my mother wasn't going to work that Saturday and she asked me if I could get a ride with a friend because she's too scared of going outside and driving me to practice," said the friend. Two days after Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration, a rumor circulated in the Milford High School community that ICE would be arresting undocumented immigrants at school the following day. Students said most of the school population was absent that day, including native-born citizens who feared their parents could be arrested picking them up or dropping them off. "There was no one in the school — no one," said a 17-year-old female classmate of da Silva's. "My parents are the ones who drive me to school, going back and forth, if they were to get stopped on the way there," said the 18-year-old recent graduate, who stayed home that day. "Also I was just concerned, if (ICE) were to ever follow me back home and see where I live, and just camp out there one day. I was just concerned for the safety of my parents." "Everywhere is kind of crazy: Chelsea, Framingham," said Lima, the Brazilian American Trump supporter, referring to two other Massachusetts communities with large Latino immigrant populations. "You see (ICE) every day. I saw them this morning." "Now people are afraid of driving vans with letters on the top, because they're targeting vans and commercial vehicles," said Lima, a construction worker. Because so many manual laborers are immigrants, ICE will "see a van with the letters on the top, like roofers," and target it for immigration enforcement, he said. "People, including me, are very scared to leave their homes and are afraid of getting stopped (for) doing nothing," said Andres, an Ecuadorian immigrant who works in roofing and lives in Milford, in Spanish. "You don't see people in the streets in the mornings," said Ingrid Fernandes, a Brazilian immigrant who owns Padaria Brasil Bakery. "It's hurt a lot. Almost 80% of my customers aren't coming for two weeks." "My parents have been afraid to leave the house," said the female classmate of da Silva's, who is also Brazilian American. "Me and my sister have been doing the shopping because we're citizens." Others say their families are having groceries delivered. They liken the lifestyle to the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Employees at Oliveira's Market, a grocery store selling Brazilian foods in downtown Milford, say business has been unusually slow in recent weeks, since the raids began, because customers are afraid to go out. "ICE was looking initially for immigrant criminals — now they're targeting everyone," said an Oliveira's employee who declined to give his name. Speaking in Portuguese via a translator, he added that he knows people who have been detained and deported. When a white reporter and photographer arrived at Oliveira's, a man on his way in from the parking lot turned around and left. At a variety store on Main Street, the Hispanic woman behind the counter was so terrified by journalists asking questions that she began to cry. Nearly everyone in town had heard about da Silva's case and the overwhelming sentiment was sympathetic to him. "It's a very sad story for everybody," Fernandes said. Da Silva's six-day detention featured what his lawyer called "horrendous" conditions, including sleeping on a cement floor with no pillow and only a thin metallic blanket. Meals, he said at a press conference, often consisted of nothing but crackers. "He seemed thin," said Andrew Mainini, Gomes da Silva's volleyball coach, who saw him the night he was released. "As someone who works out with him and sees him daily, he looked thinner than just six days earlier. And it was pretty noticeable, in his face, specifically." ICE's media affairs office told USA TODAY that da Silva was provided meals, including sandwiches. 'He was provided bedding, given access to hygiene including showers, and had access to his lawyer," said Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin in an emailed statement. ICE defended the arrest, noting that da Silva wasn't the target of the operation but that anyone in the country illegally is subject to deportation. According to ICE, just over half of the immigrants recently arrested in Massachusetts have criminal convictions in the United States or abroad. 'ICE officers engaged in a targeted immigration enforcement operation of a known public safety threat and illegal alien, Joao Paulo Gomes-Pereira," McLaughlin said. "Local authorities notified ICE that this illegal alien has a habit of reckless driving at speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour through residential areas endangering Massachusetts residents." "Officers identified the target's vehicle, and initiated a vehicle stop with the intention of apprehending Joao Paulo Gomes-Pereira," McLaughlin continued. "Upon conducting the vehicle stop, officers arrested Marcelo Gomes da Silva, an illegally present, 18-year-old Brazilian alien and the son of the intended target. While ICE officers never intended to apprehend Gomes da Silva, he was found to be in the United States illegally and subject to removal proceedings, so officers made the arrest." In 2011, Milford resident Maureen Maloney suffered a horrific tragedy when her 23-year-old son was killed by a drunk driver who was in the country illegally. The driver also had a criminal record for assaulting a police officer in 2008. Maloney became an advocate for removing undocumented immigrants who commit crimes. She went on to campaign for Trump in 2016 and to serve for four years on the Republican state committee. 'Decisions his parents made': Milford ICE supporter blames dad for local teen's arrest In Maloney's view, while what happened to Marcelo is unfortunate "collateral damage," the ICE raids are beneficial because of the criminals who were caught. "If these raids save only one life or prevent only one more child from being sexually assaulted, it was worth it," Maloney said. "No matter how bad it was for Marcelo, and I'm sure it was traumatic for him, he'd probably rather that than having lost a sibling or been sexually abused as a young child." Even some Brazilian Americans agree. "It's needed, because we've been having a lot of criminals all over the place," Lima said. "They (racially) profile. They look at you, you look Spanish, you speak with an accent, yeah: 'Where's your papers?'" Lima noted. "But it's complicated," he added. "By doing that, they've caught like murderers, people who committed crimes in Brazil." Maloney argues that responsibility for the large number of non-criminals picked up in the ICE raids lies with Healey, the state Legislature and a 2017 state court decision limiting immigration-enforcement cooperation with ICE. "As far as what occurred with Marcelo, this is a direct result of Massachusetts' sanctuary policies and Gov. Healey refusing to cooperate with ICE, because if ICE could apprehend these criminal aliens in a more controlled environment, we wouldn't be having nonviolent, noncriminal aliens being picked up as collateral damage," she said. Gov. Healey disputed those claims in a statement sent to USA TODAY by her office. 'Massachusetts law enforcement regularly partners with federal authorities to keep our communities safe," Healey said. "Our Department of Correction already has an agreement to notify ICE when someone in their custody is scheduled to be released. But instead of focusing on removing criminals, the Trump Administration and ICE are arresting people with no criminal records who live here, work here and have families here. ICE's actions are creating considerable fear in our communities and making us all less safe.' The high school community responded to its shock and upset over da Silva's arrest by quickly organizing in opposition to his detention and possible deportation. On June 2, the first day of classes after da Silva's arrest, hundreds of students staged a walkout and a rally in protest. "The students were exemplary," Otlin said. "It was a very emotionally intense experience for the students and everyone who was there to bear witness to it. I've worked in public schools for 25 years, this is my 15th year as an administrator. I've never seen anything like it. Students sobbing and chanting and praying together. Students coming up to the microphone and speaking from their hear to the press and doing so in incredibly powerful ways." The next day, the boys' volleyball team's playoff volleyball game drew hundreds of students, teachers and community members in white T-shirts with "Free Marcelo" written on them. "People came to support the volleyball team and people came to be together," Otlin said. "This was and remains a traumatic event for hundreds of young people and parents and families in our community, and I think people desperately wanted to come together and be together." Tim Dumas: Emotional night of volleyball, Marcelo's freedom at Milford High While the Scarlet Hawks were eliminbated from the playoffs by Taunton, Coach Mainini said the volleyball team's goal is to support by da Silva by "maintaining the community." "Any time he's with the team, any time he's active, he's not going to be thinking of the challenges ahead of him," Mainini said. "And that's one of the best things we can offer him." Meanwhile, other Milford High School students and recent alumni still have to contend with the omnipresent threat of immigration enforcement descending upon their families. "My parents have had the conversation with me about moving to Brazil, like what would happen in case something were to ever happen," said da Silva's female classmate. "Me personally, I don't want to go to Brazil, because I've never been there. I don't know what it's like. This is what I know. This is the only thing I know. I've never really traveled outside the country." "And like, I don't want to leave my parents, I wouldn't want to leave my parents, but I'd stay for my last year of high school, to finish high school with my sister. I wouldn't want to leave my mom and dad, but I wouldn't want to leave my home, to leave the United States. And it's a very scary and weird conversation to have with them." "Sadly, that's the reality we have to live: I have to think about whether I'm going to come home and my parents won't be there," the recent graduate said. Contributing: John Walker, Kevin Theodoro, USA TODAY NETWORK. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Milford MA student ICE arrest spotlights town reshaped by immigration
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
How a Massachusetts town became a flashpoint for Trump's immigration crackdown
MILFORD, MASSACHUSETTS − Immigrants in this blue-collar town say they are living in constant fear of ICE raids that have rounded up 1,500 undocumented people throughout Massachusetts. Among those arrested was Marcelo Gomes da Silva an 11th grader at Milford High School, whose story has drawn widespread attention for the way it throws into stark relief immigration-enforcement tensions that exist all over the country. "There's been very high levels of anxiety in the community about immigration enforcement for many months," says Milford High School Principal Joshua Otlin. Gomes da Silva's family, who brought him to the United States from Brazil at the age of 7, are just some of the thousands of immigrants from Latin America whose arrival has reshaped Milford in the last two decades. And now their community is in the crosshairs of President Donald Trump's aggressive deportation efforts. The fear is pervasive throughout the community, says Reggie Lima, a Brazilian American who on a recent day wore a Trump hat in Milford's Padaria Brasil Bakery. "Every day, it's on the back of everybody's mind. Nobody leaves home today without checking around, checking the windows, to see if ICE is outside," Lima says. Gomes Da Silva, 18, was arrested by ICE agents on May 31 when he was stopped on his way to volleyball practice. Federal officials said they targeted his father, Joao Paulo Gomes-Pereira, who they say is undocumented and has a history of reckless driving. The next day, Gomes da Silva's girlfriend and the other seniors at Milford High School graduated under a cloud of angst. Not only was Gomes da Silva − the drummer in the school band performing that day − absent but so were two of the graduating students and the families of many others. "A lot of people's parents were very scared to go to graduation, because there were a lot of false rumors saying that immigration could be around school property," said an 18-year-old Brazilian American who just graduated. USA TODAY is withholding the names of high school students interviewed for this story, because many members of the community expressed fear that they or their family would be subject to arrest or deportation. "It was a very difficult day, but it's definitely going to be memorable, because right after graduation, the first thing that all my friends did, we walked with our teachers, our friends, in our in caps and gowns − I was in my heels − all the way down to town hall protesting for Marcelo," she added. "I heard many stories of people who didn't cheer for their children," for fear of being exposed to immigration authorities, said Colleen Greco, the mother of a volleyball teammate of Gomes da Silva's. Gomes da Silva was released on June 5 after posting a $2,000 bond set by an immigration judge that afternoon. His arrest drew immediate backlash and condemnation from members of Congress. If Milford isn't Any Town USA, it is at least Any Town New England. The Brutalist concrete high school is surrounded by ball fields and a sea of parking. The strip malls are filled with chain restaurants, including three Dunkin' Donuts. The historic downtown is centered around a wood-frame town hall with a cupola-crowned clock tower. Its environs are filled with wood siding-clad houses behind small lawns, some protected by white-picket fences. While the mainline Protestant churches − Episcopal, Methodist, Congregationalist, and Unitarian − reflect the British roots of the town's original settlers, a nearby Catholic church demonstrates its more recent immigrant history: once catering to the Irish and Italians who dominated the population in the 20th Century, it now offers services in Spanish and Portuguese, as well as English. "When I grew up in Milford, Milford was pretty indistinguishable from other suburbs in this part of Massachusetts," said Otlin, who graduated in 1996 from the high school where he's now principal. Back then, he said, it was "almost exclusively white." "Today Milford is very, very different than it was," he continued. "Most of our students identify as something other than white, native-born, English-speaking Americans. Here at the high school, 45% of our families need a translator to communicate with the school." According to the U.S. Census, 30% of Milford's 30,000 residents are foreign-born. The Census undercounts immigrants, who may be afraid to respond to the survey, according to experts and the Census Bureau itself. A 2023 Census Bureau report found 19.8% of noncitizens located in administrative records could not be matched to an address in the 2020 Census, compared to 5.4% of among citizens. Still, Census data show a massive surge in immigration: Since 2000, both the Hispanic population and the foreign-born population have tripled in Milford. The name Massachusetts might evoke liberal coastal elites, like the ones at Harvard that Trump is currently attacking with every weapon he can find. But Milford is 30 miles and a world away from the Ivy League campus. Just one-third of adults in Milford have a bachelor's degree, compared to 80% in Cambridge. And while it's easier to find a New York Yankees fan than a Republican in Harvard Yard, 42% of Milford voters went for Trump last year. "Massachusetts has the 6th highest foreign-born proportion in the country at 18%," wrote Mark Melnik, a researcher at the UMass Donahue Institute, part of the University of Massachusetts, in an email to USA TODAY. "Milford at 30% is higher than Boston (27%)!" In the late 19th Century, the local economy revolved around extracting the town's trademark pink granite, which is found in buildings as far away as Paris. In the mid-20th Century, Archer Rubber was a major employer. Now, it's the health care and biotechnology industry around Greater Boston. But even the white-collar economy needs manual laborers to build and maintain the houses and office parks. "For most of our immigrant families, they're working in the skilled trades, mostly in the construction trades," Otlin said. And on Main Street, many of the stores feature signage in Spanish and Portuguese and sell products from Latin America such as soccer jerseys and plantain leaves. Many of the longtime residents enthusiastically embrace the new diversity. "They have the best meat markets," Greco said. And others express their region's trademark tolerance. "I think he's a folk hero, and I'm behind him," said Tom, a middle-aged white neighbor in a baseball hat, who was passing Gomes da Silva's house on June 6. Gomes da Silva's friends streamed in and out, but no one answered the door for a reporter. "I think it's no different than when Irish moved in, in the late 1800s, and Italians moved in in the early 1900s," Tom, a lifelong Milford resident of Irish ancestry who declined to give his last name, added. "Only the laws have changed, but we're all human." Even before Gomes da Silva was picked up, the already-pervasive fear of immigration authorities led one of Marcelo's volleyball teammates to be in his car that day. "The night before, I had asked Marcelo for a ride to practice because, ironically enough, my mother wasn't going to work that Saturday and she asked me if I could get a ride with a friend because she's too scared of going outside and driving me to practice," said the friend. Two days after Trump's inauguration, a rumor circulated in the Milford High School community that ICE would be arresting undocumented immigrants at school the following day. Students say most of the school population was absent the next day, including native-born citizens who feared their parents could be arrested picking them up or dropping them off. "There was no one in the school, no one," said a 17-year-old female classmate of Gomes da Silva's. "My parents are the ones who drive me to school, going back and forth, if they were to get stopped on the way there," said the 18-year-old recent graduate, who stayed home from school that day. "Also I was just concerned, if (ICE) were to ever follow me back home and see where I live, and just camp out there one day. I was just concerned for the safety of my parents." "Everywhere is kind of crazy: Chelsea, Framingham," said Lima, the Brazilian American Trump supporter, referring to two other Massachusetts towns with large Latino immigrant populations. "You see (ICE) every day. I saw them this morning." "Now people are afraid of driving vans with letters on the top, because they are targeting vans and commercial vehicles," Lima, a construction worker, said. Since so many of the manual laborers are immigrants, ICE will "see a van with the letters on the top, like roofers," and target it for immigration enforcement, he said. "People, including me, are very scared to leave their homes and are afraid of getting stopped doing nothing," said Andres, an Ecuadoan immigrant who works in roofing and lives in Milford, in Spanish. "You don't see people in the streets in the mornings," said Ingrid Fernandes, a Brazilian immigrant who owns Padaria Brasil Bakery. "It's hurt a lot. Almost 80% of my customers aren't coming for two weeks." "My parents have been afraid to leave the house," said the female classmate of Gomes da Silva's, who is also Brazilian American. "Me and my sister have been doing the shopping because we're citizens." Others say their families are having groceries delivered. They liken the lifestyle to the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Employees at Oliveira's Market, a grocery store selling Brazilian foods in downtown Milford, say business has been unusually slow in recent weeks, since the raids began, because their customers are afraid to go out. "ICE was looking initially for immigrant criminals, now they are targeting everyone," said an Oliveira's employee, who declined to give his name. Speaking in Portuguese via a translator, he added that he knows people who have been detained and deported. When a white reporter and photographer arrived at Oliveira's Market, a man on his way in from the parking lot turned around and left. At a variety store on Main Street, the elderly Hispanic woman behind the counter was so terrified by journalists asking questions that she began to cry. Nearly everyone in town had heard about Marcelo's case and the overwhelming sentiment was sympathetic to him. "It's a very sad story for everybody," Fernandes said. His six-day detention featured what his lawyer called "horrendous" conditions, including sleeping on a cement floor with no pillow and only a thin metallic blanket. Meals, he said at a press conference, often consisted of nothing but crackers. "He seemed thin," said Andrew Mainini, Gomes da Silva's volleyball coach, who saw him the night he was released. "As someone who works out with him and sees him daily, he looked thinner than just six days earlier. And it was pretty noticeable, in his face, specifically." ICE's media affairs office told USA TODAY Gomes da Silva was provided meals, including sandwiches. 'He was provided bedding, given access to hygiene including showers, and had access to his lawyer," said Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin in an emailed statement. ICE defends Gomes da Silva's arrest, noting that he wasn't the target of the operation but that anyone in the country illegally is subject to deportation. According to ICE, just over half of the immigrants recently arrested in Massachusetts have criminal convictions in the United States or abroad. 'ICE officers engaged in a targeted immigration enforcement operation of a known public safety threat and illegal alien, Joao Paulo Gomes-Pereira," McLaughlin said. "Local authorities notified ICE that this illegal alien has a habit of reckless driving at speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour through residential areas endangering Massachusetts residents." "Officers identified the target's vehicle, and initiated a vehicle stop with the intention of apprehending Joao Paulo Gomes-Pereira," McLaughlin continued. "Upon conducting the vehicle stop, officers arrested Marcelo Gomes-Da Silva, an illegally present, 18-year-old Brazilian alien and the son of the intended target. While ICE officers never intended to apprehend Gomes-DaSilva, he was found to be in the United States illegally and subject to removal proceedings, so officers made the arrest." In 2011, Milford resident Maureen Maloney suffered a horrific tragedy when her 23-year-old son was killed by a drunk driver who was in the country illegally. The driver also had a criminal record for assaulting a police officer in 2008. Maloney became an advocate for removing undocumented immigrants who commit crimes. She went on to campaign for Trump in 2016 and to serve for four years on the Republican state committee. In Maloney's view, while what happened to Marcelo is unfortunate "collateral damage," the ICE raids are beneficial because of the criminals they have caught. "If these raids save only one life or prevent only one more child from being sexually assaulted, it was worth it," Maloney said. "No matter how bad it was for Marcelo, and I'm sure it was traumatic for him, he'd probably rather that than having lost a sibling or been sexually abused as a young child." Even some Brazilian Americans agree. "It's needed because we've been having a lot of criminals all over the place," Lima said. "They (racially) profile. They look at you, you look Spanish, you speak with an accent, yeah: 'where's your papers?'" Lima noted. "But it's complicated," he added. "By doing that, they've caught like murderers, people who committed crimes in Brazil." Maloney argues that responsibility for the large number of non-criminals picked up in the ICE raids lies with Healey, the state legislature and a 2017 state court decision limiting immigration-enforcement cooperation with ICE. "As far as what occurred with Marcelo, this is a direct result of Massachusetts' sanctuary policies and Gov. Healey refusing to cooperate with ICE, because if ICE could apprehend these criminal aliens in a more controlled environment, we wouldn't be having nonviolent, noncriminal aliens being picked up as collateral damage," she said. Gov. Healey disputed those claims in a statement sent to USA TODAY by her office. 'Massachusetts law enforcement regularly partners with federal authorities to keep our communities safe," she said. "Our Department of Correction already has an agreement to notify ICE when someone in their custody is scheduled to be released. But instead of focusing on removing criminals, the Trump Administration and ICE are arresting people with no criminal records who live here, work here, and have families here. ICE's actions are creating considerable fear in our communities and making us all less safe.' The high school community responded to its shock and upset over Gomes da Silva's arrest by quickly organizing in opposition to his detention and possible deportation. On June 2, the first day of classes after Gomes da Silva's arrest, hundreds of students staged a walkout and a rally in protest. "The students were exemplary," Otlin said. "It was a very emotionally intense experience for the students and everyone who was there to bear witness to it. I've worked in public schools for 25 years, this is my 15th year as an administrator. I've never seen anything like it. Students sobbing and chanting and praying together. Students coming up to the microphone and speaking from their hear to the press and doing so in incredibly powerful ways." The next day, the boys' volleyball team's playoff volleyball game brought hundreds of students, teachers, and community members in white t-shirts with "Free Marcelo" written on them. "People came to support the volleyball team and people came to be together," Otlin said. "This was and remains a traumatic event for hundreds of young people and parents and families in our community, and I think people desperately wanted to come together and be together." The team lost, however. Coach Mainini said the volleyball team's goal is to support by Gomes da Silva by "maintaining the community." "Any time he's with the team, any time he's active, he's not going to be thinking of the challenges ahead of him," Mainini said. "And that's one of the best things we can offer him." Meanwhile, other Milford High School students and recent alumni still have to contend with the omnipresent threat of immigration enforcement descending upon their family. "My parents have had the conversation with me about moving to Brazil, like what would happen in case something were to ever happen," said Gomes da Silva's female classmate. "Me personally, I don't want to go to Brazil, because I've never been there. I don't know what it's like. This is what I know. This is the only thing I know. I've never really traveled outside the country." "And like, I don't want to leave my parents, I wouldn't want to leave my parents, but I'd stay for my last year of high school, to finish high school with my sister. I wouldn't want to leave my mom and dad, but I wouldn't want to leave my home, to leave the United States. And it's a very scary and weird conversation to have with them." "Sadly, that's the reality we have to live: I have to think about whether I'm going to come home and my parents won't be there," the recent graduate said. Contributing: John Walker, Kevin Theodoru, USA TODAY NETWORK. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 11th grader's ICE arrest spotlights a town reshaped by immigration
USA Today
11-06-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
How a Massachusetts town became a flashpoint for Trump's immigration crackdown
How a Massachusetts town became a flashpoint for Trump's immigration crackdown Far from the southern border, Massachusetts' immigrant community lives in fear of ICE and high school students are leading the local resistance. Show Caption Hide Caption Students walk out of school to rally for classmate detained by ICE Students at a high school in Milford, Massachusetts, walked out of class en masse on Monday to support their classmate Marcelo Gomes da Silva. Gomes Da Silva, 18, was arrested by ICE agents on May 31 when he was stopped on his way to volleyball practice with friends in his hometown of Milford. MILFORD, MASSACHUSETTS − Immigrants in this blue-collar town say they are living in constant fear of ICE raids that have rounded up 1,500 undocumented people throughout Massachusetts. Among those arrested was Marcelo Gomes da Silva an 11th grader at Milford High School, whose story has drawn widespread attention for the way it throws into stark relief immigration-enforcement tensions that exist all over the country. "There's been very high levels of anxiety in the community about immigration enforcement for many months," says Milford High School Principal Joshua Otlin. Gomes da Silva's family, who brought him to the United States from Brazil at the age of 7, are just some of the thousands of immigrants from Latin America whose arrival has reshaped Milford in the last two decades. And now their community is in the crosshairs of President Donald Trump's aggressive deportation efforts. The fear is pervasive throughout the community, says Reggie Lima, a Brazilian American who on a recent day wore a Trump hat in Milford's Padaria Brasil Bakery. "Every day, it's on the back of everybody's mind. Nobody leaves home today without checking around, checking the windows, to see if ICE is outside," Lima says. Gomes Da Silva, 18, was arrested by ICE agents on May 31 when he was stopped on his way to volleyball practice. Federal officials said they targeted his father, Joao Paulo Gomes-Pereira, who they say is undocumented and has a history of reckless driving. The next day, Gomes da Silva's girlfriend and the other seniors at Milford High School graduated under a cloud of angst. Not only was Gomes da Silva − the drummer in the school band performing that day − absent but so were two of the graduating students and the families of many others. "A lot of people's parents were very scared to go to graduation, because there were a lot of false rumors saying that immigration could be around school property," said an 18-year-old Brazilian American who just graduated. USA TODAY is withholding the names of high school students interviewed for this story, because many members of the community expressed fear that they or their family would be subject to arrest or deportation. "It was a very difficult day, but it's definitely going to be memorable, because right after graduation, the first thing that all my friends did, we walked with our teachers, our friends, in our in caps and gowns − I was in my heels − all the way down to town hall protesting for Marcelo," she added. "I heard many stories of people who didn't cheer for their children," for fear of being exposed to immigration authorities, said Colleen Greco, the mother of a volleyball teammate of Gomes da Silva's. Gomes da Silva was released on June 5 after posting a $2,000 bond set by an immigration judge that afternoon. His arrest drew immediate backlash and condemnation from members of Congress. An immigrant influx If Milford isn't Any Town USA, it is at least Any Town New England. The Brutalist concrete high school is surrounded by ball fields and a sea of parking. The strip malls are filled with chain restaurants, including three Dunkin' Donuts. The historic downtown is centered around a wood-frame town hall with a cupola-crowned clock tower. Its environs are filled with wood siding-clad houses behind small lawns, some protected by white-picket fences. While the mainline Protestant churches − Episcopal, Methodist, Congregationalist, and Unitarian − reflect the British roots of the town's original settlers, a nearby Catholic church demonstrates its more recent immigrant history: once catering to the Irish and Italians who dominated the population in the 20th Century, it now offers services in Spanish and Portuguese, as well as English. "When I grew up in Milford, Milford was pretty indistinguishable from other suburbs in this part of Massachusetts," said Otlin, who graduated in 1996 from the high school where he's now principal. Back then, he said, it was "almost exclusively white." "Today Milford is very, very different than it was," he continued. "Most of our students identify as something other than white, native-born, English-speaking Americans. Here at the high school, 45% of our families need a translator to communicate with the school." According to the U.S. Census, 30% of Milford's 30,000 residents are foreign-born. The Census undercounts immigrants, who may be afraid to respond to the survey, according to experts and the Census Bureau itself. A 2023 Census Bureau report found 19.8% of noncitizens located in administrative records could not be matched to an address in the 2020 Census, compared to 5.4% of among citizens. Still, Census data show a massive surge in immigration: Since 2000, both the Hispanic population and the foreign-born population have tripled in Milford. The name Massachusetts might evoke liberal coastal elites, like the ones at Harvard that Trump is currently attacking with every weapon he can find. But Milford is 30 miles and a world away from the Ivy League campus. Just one-third of adults in Milford have a bachelor's degree, compared to 80% in Cambridge. And while it's easier to find a New York Yankees fan than a Republican in Harvard Yard, 42% of Milford voters went for Trump last year. "Massachusetts has the 6th highest foreign-born proportion in the country at 18%," wrote Mark Melnik, a researcher at the UMass Donahue Institute, part of the University of Massachusetts, in an email to USA TODAY. "Milford at 30% is higher than Boston (27%)!" In the late 19th Century, the local economy revolved around extracting the town's trademark pink granite, which is found in buildings as far away as Paris. In the mid-20th Century, Archer Rubber was a major employer. Now, it's the health care and biotechnology industry around Greater Boston. But even the white-collar economy needs manual laborers to build and maintain the houses and office parks. "For most of our immigrant families, they're working in the skilled trades, mostly in the construction trades," Otlin said. And on Main Street, many of the stores feature signage in Spanish and Portuguese and sell products from Latin America such as soccer jerseys and plantain leaves. Many of the longtime residents enthusiastically embrace the new diversity. "They have the best meat markets," Greco said. And others express their region's trademark tolerance. "I think he's a folk hero, and I'm behind him," said Tom, a middle-aged white neighbor in a baseball hat, who was passing Gomes da Silva's house on June 6. Gomes da Silva's friends streamed in and out, but no one answered the door for a reporter. "I think it's no different than when Irish moved in, in the late 1800s, and Italians moved in in the early 1900s," Tom, a lifelong Milford resident of Irish ancestry who declined to give his last name, added. "Only the laws have changed, but we're all human." Immigrants living in fear and hiding Even before Gomes da Silva was picked up, the already-pervasive fear of immigration authorities led one of Marcelo's volleyball teammates to be in his car that day. "The night before, I had asked Marcelo for a ride to practice because, ironically enough, my mother wasn't going to work that Saturday and she asked me if I could get a ride with a friend because she's too scared of going outside and driving me to practice," said the friend. Two days after Trump's inauguration, a rumor circulated in the Milford High School community that ICE would be arresting undocumented immigrants at school the following day. Students say most of the school population was absent the next day, including native-born citizens who feared their parents could be arrested picking them up or dropping them off. "There was no one in the school, no one," said a 17-year-old female classmate of Gomes da Silva's. "My parents are the ones who drive me to school, going back and forth, if they were to get stopped on the way there," said the 18-year-old recent graduate, who stayed home from school that day. "Also I was just concerned, if (ICE) were to ever follow me back home and see where I live, and just camp out there one day. I was just concerned for the safety of my parents." "Everywhere is kind of crazy: Chelsea, Framingham," said Lima, the Brazilian American Trump supporter, referring to two other Massachusetts towns with large Latino immigrant populations. "You see (ICE) every day. I saw them this morning." "Now people are afraid of driving vans with letters on the top, because they are targeting vans and commercial vehicles," Lima, a construction worker, said. Since so many of the manual laborers are immigrants, ICE will "see a van with the letters on the top, like roofers," and target it for immigration enforcement, he said. "People, including me, are very scared to leave their homes and are afraid of getting stopped doing nothing," said Andres, an Ecuadoan immigrant who works in roofing and lives in Milford, in Spanish. "You don't see people in the streets in the mornings," said Ingrid Fernandes, a Brazilian immigrant who owns Padaria Brasil Bakery. "It's hurt a lot. Almost 80% of my customers aren't coming for two weeks." "My parents have been afraid to leave the house," said the female classmate of Gomes da Silva's, who is also Brazilian American. "Me and my sister have been doing the shopping because we're citizens." Others say their families are having groceries delivered. They liken the lifestyle to the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Employees at Oliveira's Market, a grocery store selling Brazilian foods in downtown Milford, say business has been unusually slow in recent weeks, since the raids began, because their customers are afraid to go out. "ICE was looking initially for immigrant criminals, now they are targeting everyone," said an Oliveira's employee, who declined to give his name. Speaking in Portuguese via a translator, he added that he knows people who have been detained and deported. When a white reporter and photographer arrived at Oliveira's Market, a man on his way in from the parking lot turned around and left. At a variety store on Main Street, the elderly Hispanic woman behind the counter was so terrified by journalists asking questions that she began to cry. Nearly everyone in town had heard about Marcelo's case and the overwhelming sentiment was sympathetic to him. "It's a very sad story for everybody," Fernandes said. His six-day detention featured what his lawyer called "horrendous" conditions, including sleeping on a cement floor with no pillow and only a thin metallic blanket. Meals, he said at a press conference, often consisted of nothing but crackers. "He seemed thin," said Andrew Mainini, Gomes da Silva's volleyball coach, who saw him the night he was released. "As someone who works out with him and sees him daily, he looked thinner than just six days earlier. And it was pretty noticeable, in his face, specifically." ICE's media affairs office told USA TODAY Gomes da Silva was provided meals, including sandwiches. 'He was provided bedding, given access to hygiene including showers, and had access to his lawyer," said Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin in an emailed statement. ICE defends Gomes da Silva's arrest, noting that he wasn't the target of the operation but that anyone in the country illegally is subject to deportation. According to ICE, just over half of the immigrants recently arrested in Massachusetts have criminal convictions in the United States or abroad. 'ICE officers engaged in a targeted immigration enforcement operation of a known public safety threat and illegal alien, Joao Paulo Gomes-Pereira," McLaughlin said. "Local authorities notified ICE that this illegal alien has a habit of reckless driving at speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour through residential areas endangering Massachusetts residents." "Officers identified the target's vehicle, and initiated a vehicle stop with the intention of apprehending Joao Paulo Gomes-Pereira," McLaughlin continued. "Upon conducting the vehicle stop, officers arrested Marcelo Gomes-Da Silva, an illegally present, 18-year-old Brazilian alien and the son of the intended target. While ICE officers never intended to apprehend Gomes-DaSilva, he was found to be in the United States illegally and subject to removal proceedings, so officers made the arrest." Support for deporting criminals In 2011, Milford resident Maureen Maloney suffered a horrific tragedy when her 23-year-old son was killed by a drunk driver who was in the country illegally. The driver also had a criminal record for assaulting a police officer in 2008. Maloney became an advocate for removing undocumented immigrants who commit crimes. She went on to campaign for Trump in 2016 and to serve for four years on the Republican state committee. In Maloney's view, while what happened to Marcelo is unfortunate "collateral damage," the ICE raids are beneficial because of the criminals they have caught. "If these raids save only one life or prevent only one more child from being sexually assaulted, it was worth it," Maloney said. "No matter how bad it was for Marcelo, and I'm sure it was traumatic for him, he'd probably rather that than having lost a sibling or been sexually abused as a young child." Even some Brazilian Americans agree. "It's needed because we've been having a lot of criminals all over the place," Lima said. "They (racially) profile. They look at you, you look Spanish, you speak with an accent, yeah: 'where's your papers?'" Lima noted. "But it's complicated," he added. "By doing that, they've caught like murderers, people who committed crimes in Brazil." Maloney argues that responsibility for the large number of non-criminals picked up in the ICE raids lies with Healey, the state legislature and a 2017 state court decision limiting immigration-enforcement cooperation with ICE. "As far as what occurred with Marcelo, this is a direct result of Massachusetts' sanctuary policies and Gov. Healey refusing to cooperate with ICE, because if ICE could apprehend these criminal aliens in a more controlled environment, we wouldn't be having nonviolent, noncriminal aliens being picked up as collateral damage," she said. Gov. Healey disputed those claims in a statement sent to USA TODAY by her office. 'Massachusetts law enforcement regularly partners with federal authorities to keep our communities safe," she said. "Our Department of Correction already has an agreement to notify ICE when someone in their custody is scheduled to be released. But instead of focusing on removing criminals, the Trump Administration and ICE are arresting people with no criminal records who live here, work here, and have families here. ICE's actions are creating considerable fear in our communities and making us all less safe.' Student-led protests The high school community responded to its shock and upset over Gomes da Silva's arrest by quickly organizing in opposition to his detention and possible deportation. On June 2, the first day of classes after Gomes da Silva's arrest, hundreds of students staged a walkout and a rally in protest. "The students were exemplary," Otlin said. "It was a very emotionally intense experience for the students and everyone who was there to bear witness to it. I've worked in public schools for 25 years, this is my 15th year as an administrator. I've never seen anything like it. Students sobbing and chanting and praying together. Students coming up to the microphone and speaking from their hear to the press and doing so in incredibly powerful ways." The next day, the boys' volleyball team's playoff volleyball game brought hundreds of students, teachers, and community members in white t-shirts with "Free Marcelo" written on them. "People came to support the volleyball team and people came to be together," Otlin said. "This was and remains a traumatic event for hundreds of young people and parents and families in our community, and I think people desperately wanted to come together and be together." The team lost, however. Coach Mainini said the volleyball team's goal is to support by Gomes da Silva by "maintaining the community." "Any time he's with the team, any time he's active, he's not going to be thinking of the challenges ahead of him," Mainini said. "And that's one of the best things we can offer him." Meanwhile, other Milford High School students and recent alumni still have to contend with the omnipresent threat of immigration enforcement descending upon their family. "My parents have had the conversation with me about moving to Brazil, like what would happen in case something were to ever happen," said Gomes da Silva's female classmate. "Me personally, I don't want to go to Brazil, because I've never been there. I don't know what it's like. This is what I know. This is the only thing I know. I've never really traveled outside the country." "And like, I don't want to leave my parents, I wouldn't want to leave my parents, but I'd stay for my last year of high school, to finish high school with my sister. I wouldn't want to leave my mom and dad, but I wouldn't want to leave my home, to leave the United States. And it's a very scary and weird conversation to have with them." "Sadly, that's the reality we have to live: I have to think about whether I'm going to come home and my parents won't be there," the recent graduate said. Contributing: John Walker, Kevin Theodoru, USA TODAY NETWORK.
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Why Brazilian DJ Alok wants to 'keep art human'
As artificial intelligence begins to creep into the creative realm, one DJ aims to uplift the power of human artistry. Last Saturday, Brazilian DJ Alok — whom DJ Mag notably ranked the No. 4 DJ in the world — made his debut appearance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, where he took the Sahara stage at golden hour. He was accompanied by Brazilian American singer Zeeba and "Sweet But Psycho" hitmaker Ava Max, as well as 50 performers from the dance company Urban Theory. Wearing masks and metallic gloves, the dancers used their hands to mimic machine-like movements, which they call "tutting." The man-made spectacle, which appeared almost computer-generated, served as a reminder to 'keep art human,' as Alok's T-shirt read during the performance. ' I'm just trying to [use my] platform to [uplift] the voices of a lot of artists that are afraid about what AI is doing,' said DJ Alok in a Zoom interview. Alok, along with creative director Fabio Soares, envisioned this performance as a living art installation, hoping to contrast the mechanical movement of dancers with ongoing AI efforts to automate creative fields. ' When humans are connected on the same purpose and synchronized, we can do stuff that is extraordinary, but we have to also trust each other,' said Alok of the concept. 'If one dancer makes a mistake, it can compromise all of them.' Ahead of the Coachella performance, Alok uploaded a teaser clip to his more than 29 million Instagram followers. In the comments, some expressed both skepticism and surprise at the ability of humans to perform such precise movements. At the very top of the responses, Alok pinned a postscript message for added clarity: 'This is not AI.' ' How crazy is that?" Alok marveled. "That people do not believe that humans can do this kind of stuff anymore, like everything has to be AI." The 33-year-old electronic artist acknowledged that certain software tools have helped him extract vocals, samples and instruments necessary to form creative beats. Yet he doesn't believe AI should replace artistic sensibility, 'because to create art, you need to touch the soul.' 'I'm not against AI. I'm just [concerned] about how we use it. Because anything in the world can be used to do damage or create good things right?' said Alok. He recalled a drone show he did two years ago when performing at the United Nations in New York. After the show, he said someone from Ukraine's embassy approached him crying and saying, "because in my country you use drones to kill each other and make war.'" The beat maker — born Alok Achkar Peres Petrillo in Goiânia, Brazil — is no stranger to the cause of social justice. In 2020, he used royalties obtained from his popular gaming character in "Free Fire" to fund his own nonprofit organization, the Alok Institute, which boosts social and environmental initiatives in Brazil, Africa and India. ' If you asked me 10 years ago if I cared about all this stuff, I would say no,' he said. Two years ago, following a major depressive episode, Alok journeyed to the Amazon rainforest to connect with Indigenous groups. The experience changed his outlook on life. 'I was doing songs to work on the beats, they were doing songs to heal, you know?' he said, hinting at its irony. The experience inspired him to use his platform to aid in the preservation of Indigenous languages. Through his institute, Alok unveiled a humanitarian project and album titled 'The Future Is Ancestral,' which showcased Indigenous music from eight communities across Brazil. Its release came days before an annual protest in the nation's capital, where Indigenous groups convened to demand more land protections. The album received praise from UNESCO and the United Nations; the song 'Pedju Kunumigwe,' sung by the Guarani Nhandewa people, was nominated for a Latin Grammy for Latin electronic music performance in 2024. 'As an artist, we have the responsibility to try to push culture forward through art,' he said. 'That's why art has to be made by humans.' Alok and Urban Theory will return to the Sahara stage on Saturday, April 19, at 4:10 p.m. Get our Latinx Files newsletter for stories that capture the complexity of our communities. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
